He was a member of the Dukedom, Tennessee Masonic Lodge No 169 F & A M. See e’paper archive in the genealogy folder.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------News Abstracts # 7November 19, 1880 Dresden DemocratLOCAL NEWS:

(These men were probably members of the County Court or the governing body of the county. At one time they were called magistrates. Now we call them commissioners. They approve the budget, etc.). . . . . . . . . . . . .----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Subject: Magistrate Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 From: Harry C Alderdice <habealder@juno.com> To: grfarmer@ix.netcom.com, TnWeakle-L@rootsweb.comBobMagistrates were members of the County Court, which was the ruling bodyof the counties in the early days of Tennessee. In most counties theCounty Judge was the presiding officer over the court. There were twomagistrates from each district elected by the county as a whole and thenit was changed so each district elected their own magistrates. TheCounty Judge was elected county wide.

It was changed several years ago to the County Commission and eachdistrict in most counties elect two commissioners and the County Judgebecame the County Executive.

Esq. J. M. Alderdice, from the 1st District, was the brother of mygg-grandfather Alexander "Alex" Alderdice.